Women will have to wait at least two years for cervical screening improvements. The delay was “ridiculous”, said Dr Jane MacDonald, senior research fellow at Victoria University of Wellington’s Centre for Women's Health Research. She said it would leave New Zealand’s screening programme “years behind” comparable countries, including Australia. HPV-based screening involves a swab being taken from inside the vagina. It is less invasive and uncomfortable than smear tests, where a doctor uses a speculum to check for abnormal cells in the cervix. “It’s going to be two years before it’s up and running,” she said. “That means women still won't have access to HPV swabs in New Zealand [once the programme is given funding]. We will be five years behind Australia. It is ridiculous for a country of this size.”